1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handrail assembly and, more particularly, to a foldable safety handrail assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional foldable safety handrail assembly in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 comprises a mounting bracket 60 attached to a surface, such as a wall and the like, two support tubes 61 mounted on the mounting bracket 60 and spaced from each other, a rail 50 pivotally connected with the mounting bracket 60 and having a side provided with a pivot tube 51 which is pivotally mounted between the two support tubes 61 and has a periphery provided with a first locking hole 511, a locking tube 62 extending through the two support tubes 61 and the pivot tube 51 of the rail 50 and having a periphery provided with a second locking hole 63 aligning with the first locking hole 511 of the pivot tube 51, and an elastic plate 64 mounted in the locking tube 62 and having a side provided with a locking knob 641 extending through the second locking hole 63 of the locking tube 62 and detachably locked in the first locking hole 511 of the pivot tube 51 to releasably lock the pivot tube 51 onto the locking tube 62. The pivot tube 51 of the rail 50 has a C-shaped profile and has a surface provided with a slit 52 which has two opposite pressing plates 53. Each of the two pressing plates 53 of the pivot tube 51 is provided with a through hole 54. The conventional foldable safety handrail assembly further comprises a fastening bolt 55 extending through the through hole 54 of each of the two pressing plates 53, and a fastening nut 56 screwed onto the fastening bolt 55. Thus, the two pressing plates 53 of the pivot tube 51 are moved by the fastening bolt 55 to compress the pivot tube 51 toward the locking tube 62 so that the pivot tube 51 is locked onto the locking tube 62.
In operation, when the fastening bolt 55 is unscrewed from the fastening nut 56, the two pressing plates 53 of the pivot tube 51 are loosened to release the pivot tube 51 from the locking tube 62. Then, the locking knob 641 of the elastic plate 64 is pressed by a user to detach from the first locking hole 511 of the pivot tube 51 and to retract into the second locking hole 63 of the locking tube 62 so that the pivot tube 51 is unlocked from the locking tube 62 and can be rotated relative to the locking tube 62 to pivot and move the rail 50 relative to the mounting bracket 60 so as to fold the rail 50.
However, the user has to use a hand tool to screw or unscrew the fastening bolt 55 so as to clamp or loosen the pivot tube 51, thereby causing inconvenience to the user. In addition, the user has to press the locking knob 641 of the elastic plate 64 so as to detach the locking knob 641 of the elastic plate 64 from the first locking hole 511 of the pivot tube 51 and to retract the locking knob 641 of the elastic plate 64 into the second locking hole 63 of the locking tube 62, so that the user cannot unlock the pivot tube 51 from the locking tube 62 easily and quickly, thereby causing inconvenience to the user. Further, the elastic plate 64 will easily produce an elastic fatigue during a long-term utilization so that the elastic plate 64 is inoperative.